Saturday, July 1, 2017

http://www.esquire.com/news-politics/politics/news/a55879/russian-bikers-trump/
"So, on a salary of $75,000, Zorin somehow sunk $8 million into high-end Florida real-estate. He must have invested very wisely. Or he eats Ramen noodles all day and has a hell of a big mattress. Naturally, because he is a Russian official of the Putin era, Zorin has connections with former Russian intelligence officials who have hit it big in the new globalized capitalist economy, and Zorin picked a real doozy, too. Zorin has other Miami connections, too: His local business associate, Svyatoslav Mangushev, a Russian intelligence officer turned Miami real-estate investor... Let us pause right there and catch our breath. This cannot end well. Anyway: [Mangushev] helped found a biker club called Spetsnaz M.C. Spetsnaz is a group of motorcycle-loving South Florida expatriates who named themselves after the Russian equivalent of Delta Force or Seal Team Six. Spetsnaz members once asked for official recognition from Russia's biggest biker gang, the Night Wolves, an infamous group that has strong ties to Russia's security services. The Night Wolves played a role in the Ukrainian uprising, once had their flag flown in outer space by Russian cosmonauts and are under U.S. sanctions. So this Mangushev character starts a motorcycle gang among his fellow Russian expats that he names after the Russian equivalent of the special forces. This gang, named after the Russian special forces, seeks the imprimatur of an actual Russian biker gang that, unlike their American brethren, doesn't settle for tearing up small towns along the California coast. This bunch helps overthrow governments. This is not a guy I'd do business with but, then again, I'm not Igor Zorin, with his millions buried in coffee cans in his backyard."